World Cup Fever Hits Everyone

Well almost everyone.

Here in our country we are excited . . .

. . . For the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers.

I find that amusing and frankly quite stupid.

Filipinos are not that tall - probably around 5'6" if that.

Between you and me do you really see us getting competitive in basketball when the average height of other countries is at least a few inches taller than us.

Some argue that of course we choose the tallest among our citizens. That's well and good but there is the disparity in where you pick your candidates.

We have probably around 100-million people to choose from, if that. China has over 1-billion to choose from.

Can you see the disparity there?

I sure can.

Then there's the question of commitment. China is committed to being a world power in basketball.

Our end we can't even win in the ASEAN games with consistency.

And their government has one body and the money to back up their basketball program.

Our end we argue which political body has control over Philippine basketball and the funding, if not pocketed by "administrative" "yes" men are wholly inadequate.

The Chinese team has been together for years. Our teams are formed a month before tournaments and don't really practice well together because they are all "professionals."

So do I expect us to win anything at all - nope not really.

Yet the one area where we can be a contender we neglect.

That's right we should be focusing our resources on football, or as the Americans call it, soccer.

We have the height - hell Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are not that much taller than us.

We already have the tan and the thing is it doesn't need height to win. You need to have stamina, persistence, teamwork, and the knowledge to play.

And it doesn't require a covered court because any field can be the "pitch." You just need two goals, a ball, and two 11-men teams and you've got a game.

Filipinos are built for football, or soccer if you will. We are definitely not built for basketball - not the world or even NBA kind of basketball.

And don't say it's impossible.

Hell, North Korea, and impoverished country was able to send a team to the current World Cup in South Africa and was able to do well against the heavily favored Brazilian team.

They lost 2-1 but they gave Brazil a run for their money.

Given the right support we too can give the rest of the world a run for their money.

But then again we don't want to watch a sport which can end 0-0 after 90 minutes.

But if we continue on our mistaken path we will always be a spectator and not a contender.

Something to think about as we don't watch the world celebrate the thrill that is football (soccer).